Historically, Hakka kung fu was much less a form of pugilism than deadly combat arts involving the use of various weapons. The dangerous and deeply conflictual environment in southern China, particularly in the mountainous hinterland of Fujian and Guangdong, where local militarization had been gathering pace since the Ming dynasty, provides the general backdrop against which Hakka martial arts developed. The ability to wield arms was a fundamental condition for existence, and one that came to symbolize the Hakka’s fierce independence.

As archetypal farmers, the Hakka used daily agrarian activities as opportunities for training and developed specific fighting and training techniques derived from their daily chores and lived-in environment. At the same time, state prohibition on private arms meant civilian martial artists had to creatively invent or else adapt everyday tools for martial purpose, such as the common daam tiu (used for carrying loads), plough, as well as other farming and hunting tools such as par and cha, which became the Hakka weapons par excellence.

Comparative study between Hakka armed fighting tradition and Ming dynasty civilian martial arts in coastal Southern China suggests a deep connection between the two, particularly in respect of the use of the staff, which lies at the foundation of both. In contemporary practice, an archetypal form of Hakka staff-fencing makes use of a wooden staff which is around or slightly longer than the height of a man. When in use, the fencer holds the staff on one end and fights with the opposite tip, or else holds it in the middle and uses both ends. The two grips are interchangeable depending on the situation and the distance to the opponent. We may compare this to descriptions in Effective Method of Military Training, which says, “[common] staff is no longer than six or seven chi and is wielded with both ends”.

The archaic nature of the Hakka armed fighting tradition, which reflects to a significant degree Ming dynasty’s civilian combat system in southern China, indicates not only that the Hakka are inheritors of Ming dynasty martial arts, but also that they share a common culture with their Minnan (i.e., southern Hokkien) neighbours, at least in terms of their armed combat traditions. This shared heritage indicates a certain level of cultural continuity between the Hakka and southern Hokkien groups, and suggests the Hakka played a significant role as a cultural bridge between Fujian and Guangdong during the late imperial era.